Upon the conceptualization of Fleur de Marsca, we envisioned our work surrounded by the elegance of European architecture. Our goal has always been to translate European luxury into our floral designs. Upon discovery of The Swan House in Atlanta, GA we jumped at the idea of hosting our initial editorial shoot at this breathtaking location. We wanted to invite a selection of incredibly talented vendors to help bring our vision to reality and what flourished was nothing less than a marriage of the most spectacular teams.
In order to bring our brand shoot to life, the first plan of action was to secure a photography team that could capture and execute the vision flawlessly. Without a doubt, we knew we wanted The Cardonas to be the ones to join us on this project. We had the absolute pleasure of working with them for Iris’ wedding in 2020 when they captured her special day. Once we presented them with our mood board and ideas for this shoot, they were immediately excited and jumped on board to help us bring together the remaining logistical details.
While we worked diligently with The Cardonas to plan all the elements of this day such as contracting our models, hiring hair and makeup artists, selecting bridal gowns, linens, and reaching out to calligraphers, we knew we needed an extra hand! There are so many moving parts to an editorial shoot that it ends up becoming a mini wedding planning process. We required assistance from someone that could quickly jump on board and wrap up the details while sourcing some additional elements we needed; such as charger plates and the correct crystal to match our place settings. That's when we decided to reach out to Ashley from EverAsh Weddings. We loved how Ashley's romantic style was so compatible with ours and we felt she would be the perfect addition to help us execute our plans. Ashley being the incredibly kind human that she is immediately bought her plane ticket and jumped on board to help us tie everything together. She helped source our linens, contacted countless vendors to find the last elements we were looking for, and even put together an extremely detailed timeline to make sure we got the most of our shooting day. If it wasn't for Ashley's organization and diligence, this shoot would not have turned out as amazing as it did!
Shoot day finally arrived! We had already traveled over 10 hours to Atlanta from Miami with our beautiful flowers in tow, checked into our hotel and transported all the florals into our room, and then back down into our car again the next morning as we headed to the shoot. When we initially pulled into the Swan House grounds we were immediately in awe of this venue, the photos truly don't do justice to how impressive this location is. Perched atop an incredibly grand staircase is the main house which would serve as the backdrop to our mock ceremony space.
Immediately, we began preparing our florals as vendors began to arrive. Event Works set up our tables, and stunning Louis back chairs while Ashley unloaded silverware, plates, crystals, and more. The Cardonas began testing the lighting and equipment and everything began to flow. As we set our table scape, one element we really wanted to incorporate was beautifully hand-crafted menus and name cards. Josie from Ivory Isle design was incredible and created these gorgeous custom menus alongside a coordinating invitation suite with a hand-drawn watercolor of the Swan House facade! We wanted to make each place setting extra special and really make Josie's work pop by adding a coordinating single stem flower tied in a luxurious velvet ribbon from fringe and rose. This little extra detail really took our place settings to another level and gave each "guest's" seat a more intimate and personal feeling.
Once our models arrived, they were ready to change into their wedding attire, our beautiful bride wore a Pronovias dress from The White Magnolia in Atlanta, and our groom's tuxedo was from My Groom's Room in Miami. Our model bride Leviyah looked absolutely stunning! The glam team did an incredible job bringing to life our vision of an elegant and romantic hair and makeup look, Gaby of Gabriella Biangel and Maame of Glam by Maame were incredibly talented and professional. They even stayed throughout the entire shoot to make sure our couple looked flawless in every shot.
The moment that shooting began, we were like a well-oiled machine, The Cardonas began directing the models while the team stood by to help as needed. Isis and I moved florals around the entire venue to ensure we got photos in as many picture-perfect areas as possible. As is with any wedding, we are always running around to make sure details are absolutely perfect!
As we were getting into the ceremony portion of shoot, the threat of rain began looming over us. We checked our radars and we had a very tiny window before a massive storm was predicted to roll in. Ashley immediately made the decision to get all hands on deck and move everything over to the "ceremony" space to get the shots we needed. We had to be very diligent about keeping our bride's dress immaculate the entire time as well as making sure none of our rental items became damaged in the rain. Rushing against the storm, our team set up the ceremony space in less than 10 minutes and we were able to get all the incredible shots we wanted! As soon as we called it a wrap and moved everything into shelter, the sky opened up and the most intense storm rolled through, with lightning, thunder, and all the works! We were all laughing at how lucky we were that we were able to grab those last few shots. If it wasn't for our team's quick decision-making, these photos of our ceremony would have never happened!
Scroll through to see some of the incredible shots captured in the ceremony space.
When Isis and I were conceptualizing the florals we wanted to use for this shoot, we wanted to think of flowers that embodied the essence of Fleur de Marsca. We opted for romantic blooms such as Westminster Abbey garden roses, butterfly ranunculus, Queen Anne's lace, spirea, white tweedia and of course David Austin garden roses. We wanted to keep the tones in alignment with our brand as well, so we opted for a muted blush and mauve palette together with ivories and creams to give a truly romantic and garden-like feel.
All in all, our dream shoot became a reality on this day, and we are so proud of seeing our hard work shine through these stunning images. Being able to bring this to life from just a mere thought on paper to currently writing about our experience was truly so special for us. This shoot embodies what Fleur de Marsca is all about, romantic blooms and an elevated luxury experience for our couples. If this was just our first styled editorial shoot, we can't wait to see what we come up with for the future!
XoXo,
Iris & Isis
Vendor Love
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